Prince Whipple

Prince Whipple

1750 – 1796

prince-whipple

https://www.blackpast.org/

I was born around 1750 on the coast of Africa. When I was just ten years old, I was taken from my homeland and brought across the Atlantic to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where I was sold into slavery. I became the property of William Whipple, a merchant who would go on to sign the Declaration of Independence and serve as a general in the Continental Army. I served him as a body servant, and in time, as a soldier in the fight for American independence.

I fought at Saratoga, and later in Delaware, alongside the men who called themselves Patriots. Though I wore no rank, I stood for the freedom that many claimed to fight for, even as I remained in chains. In 1779, I was one of twenty African men who petitioned the New Hampshire legislature for our freedom. We wrote that we had been taken from our lands as children, without defense, and now sought liberty in the land of liberty. The petition was tabled, and no action was taken. Still, we had spoken. In 1781, I married Dinah on her twenty-first birthday—the same day she was freed. I remained enslaved until 1784, when William Whipple finally granted my freedom. After his death, his widow allowed me to move a small house onto her land. There, Dinah and I raised seven children, sharing the space with another freed family.

I died in 1796 at the age of 46. I am buried in North Cemetery in Portsmouth, not far from the grave of the man who once owned me. My wife, my daughter, and my granddaughter rest beside me. Some say I crossed the Delaware with Washington. Whether I did or not, I lived the struggle for freedom every day.